Sunday, May 24, 2009

Plateau

First I would like to congratulate the Vandy baseball team for getting into the championship game at the SEC tournament.  I'm a little upset because it's a double elimination tournament and we only lost in the championship game to LSU, who we beat the in the first round.   Shouldn't we play another game?  I think this should be changed...I guess I'll do it when I'm commissioner of the SEC.

So, this is about my latest plateau.  I just posted this in a thread at Runningahead...

I think I've hit a running plateau as of late.  I feel more fatigued, I can't keep my +30-60 second marathon pace for as long as I could in the past, I'm not having as much fun, and I find it a struggle to get out and run.

There are a few things that may have played a part in this plateauing...
  1.  I recently moved from 500 feet in elevation to 4,200.  Not only do I have this altitude change, but the wind blows CONSTANTLY and the first mile out of my house has a 300 ft. elevation increase.
  2. I gave blood three weeks ago before the move.
  3. I lost my training partner and have been running alone the past three weeks.
  4. My headphone wires keep getting caught in the wind and my camelbak, resulting in me having to adjust my headphones constantly.  I may have to quit running with music.
  5. I went from a pretty sedentary job (grad research) to a vigorous job (ranching, thus lots of physical labor, and the hours are long).
  6. I've started to lift weights.
  7. I run/lift after work.
Does anyone have any suggestions about how to bust through this?   You can take a look at my log.  I have a marathon on August 1st and am trying to get in a lot of 50-70 mile weeks the next few weeks.

Thanks!!

4 comments:

Old Man said...

run in the morning. short stuff. every other day, until you get use to the elevation. find a club to get in a weekend run. try some trails. mix it up.

Amy said...

First of all, I'd like to point out that you didn't "lose" your running partner... rather you LEFT your running partner. Semantics :)

Personally, I dont think you should be worried too much about pace, particularly with all the other issues... the elevation, the wind, etc.

All that said... I think it's a question of whether or not its a physical plateau or a mental plateau. Because, the solution is different depending on which it is...

Melanie said...

An alumni of MTSU (who just won the SunBelt championship in baseball), I find it necessary to let you know that Vandy is going down in the NCAA tournament this weekend. :) Actually, I'm not really that into college baseball. My sister's boy is on the MTSU team, so I have to be a little biased. Haha.

Also, I met Amy volunteering at a race this weekend. She rocks. I might steal her as a training partner. Haha.

Vandy-Montana said...

I'm going to ignore that comment until the SunBelt 'Conference' gets some real schools (Idaho? Do they have a baseball program?).

but, I will say, with somewhat certainty, that if Travis Minor pitches, the game is over right now.